Anyone have the Haygain forager?

[IPEsq]

Back story - My horse has been eating hay out of a Rubbermaid trough in his paddock because otherwise too much hay becomes bedding for his sunbathing. He still manages to make himself a hay bed anyway, but he wastes less, at least when it’s dry out (more on this below). It also helps a lot on the super windy days.

Anyway, the thing about the Rubbermaid troughs is that you need a couple inches of water in the bottom before it will drain out the drain hole. Which means that today when I wondered hmm…why does pony not want to eat his hay? …and then took a whiff in his trough, GROSS. The recent spring rains created a sludge in the bottom, causing him to eat less and less fresh hay off the top and create a dusty hay situation on top of the sludge.

So, I threw some hay on the ground in another area of the paddock and set about cleaning the trough. I didn’t have the time or correct clothing to bleach it but rinsed well and left it empty (hence throwing hay elsewhere) to bake in the afternoon CO sun.

The barn staff is great and are the ones who gave him this trough, but they don’t really clean the paddocks except for a couple small areas near the few horses who are out 24/7. I threw out quite a bit of bad hay, so it hasn’t helped a ton with the waste issue during wetter climate times. It was fine last summer when we had serious drought conditions.

Given the inherent design issue with the trough not allowing enough drainage (and since it belongs to the BO, I don’t know if I can go about drilling holes in the bottom), I’ve been looking at the new Haygain forager. It’s $$$ but can be completely disassembled to clean (a bonus if I am the one cleaning) and the drains appear to be in the correct position relative to the base to allow for enough moisture to escape. After all, it’s designed to be used with feeding steamed or soaked and steamed hay.

Wondered what people’s experiences have been with this new product. For turnout, this horse wouldn’t need the slow grazer inserts, so I don’t think staff would have a problem with it and could just dump hay in off the golf cart as per usual.

[wsmoak]

If you don’t need the inserts, it seems like buying your own Rubbermaid tub and drilling holes in it would be cheaper. If it’s just sitting on dirt, though, it might not drain if there is a lot of water.

Does just putting it in a tub actually work? My horse would first drag it all out of the tub, then spread it around and eat it off the ground.

I also hate wasted hay, and built this feeder that can be filled from outside the paddock: https://www.flickr.com/photos/10803470@N00/31722824315/in/dateposted-public/

It’s still a work in progress. I ended up adding a flap where you insert the hay, because he was flipping the bag up and dumping it all back out over the fence! It will also eventually get sides to contain what falls out, right now it blows around.

-Wendy

[IPEsq]

The tub does mostly work. Some blows out if fluffed up a bit too much. Some he drops. Maybe intentionally for nap time lol. For the most part, there was low waste (by his standards) when it was dry out. And so much less mud slop in the paddock–now all the mud slop is in the tub!! It does sit directly on the dirt. The Haygain base has some height to it and the drains come out the sides, so the dirt would not stop drainage. And unlike the tub, there would be no room inside lower than the drain holes. At least according to the info…not sure if it’s so nice in reality, which is why I’m asking.

He can’t eat effectively out of slow feed nets due to having a bit too much overbite (BTDT), and I also do not like the position of the neck eating out of one all day long (he has arthritis). So, building a net feeder or hanging a freedom feeder on the fence is not really on my list of options. I’d rather create some kind of platform within the big tub, although if open enough to drain, I’d still have to clean out sludge below that periodically.

This paddock is not close to the barn or any of the spigots (auto waterers), and today the spare golf cart wouldn’t start, so lugging the big tub around was not much fun.

[BrookdaleBay]

The barn I work at is currently testing out the Haygain Forager on some of the piggy horses. You put water in the base, so its pretty stable, but an enthusiastic eater could still move it around. The removable sides make adding hay a bit of a challenge if you are by yourself, as they fan outwards as hay is added, which then makes putting on the metal ring to keep it all together a challenge. Some days you feel as if you need three hands to load the thing. The plastic rim is easy to manage, though.

It also comes with a plastic grill that converts the feeder into a slow feeder, but if your boy has trouble with those, then you won’t even need that piece. It keeps the hay nicely contained, though.

[AKB]

Look at Portagrazers. If your pony doesn’t need his eating slowed, you can get the insert with the draft sized holes. I have a corner feeder that has a hole in the bottom.

[trubandloki]

In your situation why not simply post an ‘in search of’ ad on Craigs List or your local facebook group looking for a trough that does not hold water anymore. You can likely find one for pretty darn cheap. Then add more holes to the bottom for drainage and use the system that is working for you now with added drainage.

[IPEsq]

@Brian

I’m not sure why he’d be able to eat from the haygain forager easier than from a net. Especially in this case where the netting lays loosely over top of the hay.

I wouldn’t use the slow feeder inserts. He doesn’t need his hay regulated…just needs to be off the ground but not turn even less edible than had it been put on the ground.

[IPEsq]

@AKB

Look at Portagrazers. If your pony doesn’t need his eating slowed, you can get the insert with the draft sized holes. I have a corner feeder that has a hole in the bottom.

Thank you. I didn’t know these drained.

The dirt under the troughgets compacted and has a fair amount of clay. I’m wondering if holes in the very bottom would really let the water out? As pointed out in the first reply, it could take a while to actually drain into the soil?

[Simkie]

@trubandloki

In your situation why not simply post an ‘in search of’ ad on Craigs List or your local facebook group looking for a trough that does not hold water anymore. You can likely find one for pretty darn cheap. Then add more holes to the bottom for drainage and use the system that is working for you now with added drainage.

Yup. Totally this right here.

[IPEsq]

@BrookdaleBay

The barn I work at is currently testing out the Haygain Forager on some of the piggy horses. You put water in the base, so its pretty stable, but an enthusiastic eater could still move it around. The removable sides make adding hay a bit of a challenge if you are by yourself, as they fan outwards as hay is added, which then makes putting on the metal ring to keep it all together a challenge. Some days you feel as if you need three hands to load the thing. The plastic rim is easy to manage, though.

It also comes with a plastic grill that converts the feeder into a slow feeder, but if your boy has trouble with those, then you won’t even need that piece. It keeps the hay nicely contained, though.

The top piece doesn’t hold it together when you drop hay in?

[BrookdaleBay]

@IPEsq

The top piece doesn’t hold it together when you drop hay in?

No, you have to remove the top piece in order to remove the metal ring the holds the slow feeder grill.

[IPEsq]

@BrookdaleBay

No, you have to remove the top piece in order to remove the metal ring the holds the slow feeder grill.

I think you are doing it wrong according to this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvsm_HQBjcc

It doesn’t appear that you have to take the top ring off to fill/refill even when you are using the slow feeder grill.

With the continuation of afternoon thunderstorms, the staff have pretty much given up on using horse’s trough and are creating hay piles on the ground again. The good news is he’s mostly eating it up, but there is still some napping in the hay going on. So, I’m back to leaning towards trying the Haygain.

[FEI_1]

I’ve been using the Haygain Forager for over a year. It’s a good solution to making my big boy have something to nibble on pretty much all the time. It’s a bit of a pain and very stemy hay needs to be chopped a bit. I love mine and he actually prefers nibbling through the regulator. I like that I can just glance in his stall and see where the metal bar is and know how much hay is still available. I do check it to make sure he’s able to get the hay out and occasionally have to rearrange the hay.

[IPEsq]

@FEI 1 Have you had any issues with anything breaking?

I saw one in person the other day, finally. And the owner said I should not spend my money on it, despite the likely better drainage. Her horses tore up the regulators, which isn’t really an issue for me, but the biggest problem is the green top ring was broken and cracking in several places. She said she’s contacted Haygain about it and they haven’t responded. Kind of a bummer.

[jasmine777]

wish I had seen this post!! I purchased a haygain as well as another boarder in the barn I have my horses at. Both horses completely dismantle the units and the plastic rings that regulate the hay consumption - the clips break off. Dont waste your money on them. Not only do they dismantle them, but then you have the top hard plastic ring and the metal ring that holds the sides together floating around the stall. Definitely not a good situation.

[TullyMars]

I have the Haygain and within days they have broken the green rings that regulate the hay consumption. I think this was costly… I will have to see if they will stand behind them since I just put them in stall on Saturday and by Monday I have a problem.

[IPEsq]

@morsekg

I don’t have an answer on the Haygain but I use a Rubbermaid tub for winter hay and had the same water at the bottom issue but didn’t want to ruin the tub. My husband and I used a piece of wood to raise everything up and out of the water. You still have to dump it out sometimes but the horses were happy. Of course mine has added hay nets but it sounds like you don’t need them. My boys just threw the hay out like jerks.

Is that just a piece of plywood or similar? The staff just fixed the wood panels in the run in sheds and I bet we could make a few of these at least with the good sections of old wood. I will show to the guys. There are a couple of horses using the tubs now for soaked hay in the stalls or runs to keep the wet hay from being fed on the ground, and that of course also gets really gross like my horse’s unintentionally wet hay.

[morsekg]

@IPEsq

Is that just a piece of plywood or similar? The staff just fixed the wood panels in the run in sheds and I bet we could make a few of these at least with the good sections of old wood. I will show to the guys. There are a couple of horses using the tubs now for soaked hay in the stalls or runs to keep the wet hay from being fed on the ground, and that of course also gets really gross like my horse’s unintentionally wet hay.

Oops just saw this now so you may have figured it out already. Yes it’s plywood. We drilled holes then sanded smooth.

[demidq]

Raise a trough or tub with drainage holes added onto pieces of 4x4s so it is off the ground. I put a couple of large rocks in to weigh it down. It slowed my guzzler to have to eat around the rocks! You can also get a net with holes your horse can easily manage, and fasten it into the trough. I attached ring bolts through the trough at either end and clipped the net to them so piggie pony couldn’t remove net. No waste!